Last Fantasy Volume 1

"Drei Von Richenstein and Tian. Two unlikely heroes embark on an adventure filled with excitement, intrigue, and a bit of comic relief. They have quite the talent for making allies into new enemies. Their (mis)adventure pits them against ferocious ogres, vengeful red dragons, an army of soldiers, and even an age-old rival. But leave it to Tian and Drei to make sure that this adventure isn't their final fantasy..."--P. 4 of cover.When a mysterious hooded skeleton promises an adventure, Tian and Drei von Richenstein become two unlikely heroes who end up facing various enemies, including ogres, red dragons, soldiers, and age-old rivals.

Grade 9 Up–Imagine the duo from Dumb and Dumber in the midst of a role-playing game, and you have Drei and Tian, two unlikely and dim-witted heroes who just cannot get ahead. Drei is the fair-haired half of the pair; he is always hungry and has an exceptionally low IQ. Tian is always left to clean up his brother's messes, though he creates more than a few troubles himself. Always looking for new money-making ventures, the boys usually make the wrong choice–whether it is unwittingly slaying the father of their rescuer, burning a treasure that they had sworn to protect, or losing their potential fortune to a gigantic fish–their greed always gets the best of them. An overtly silly book filled with crude humor and highly exaggerated super deformed character expressions, this book will most likely appeal to fans of the type of humor found in movies like Scary Movie and Naked Gun. Filled with action, dragons, ogres, buxom shopkeepers, and centaurs, it parodies role-playing games and their conventions. Creative Hon, a team of three different authors, explains how this manhwa was created in concluding pages. Strictly for larger collections.–Jennifer Feigelman, Goshen Public Library and Historical Society, NY
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The two young heroes on the cover of Tokyopop's latest manhwa offering look blandly conventional; this misconception isn't dispelled until our heroes are properly introduced several pages later. Tian is the dark-haired one, bookish and talented but undereducated. Drei, his hunky blonde sidekick, has the brain of a bug and an insatiable appetite. It turns out that all appearances to the contrary, neither Tian nor Drei qualifies as your standard manhwa hero. Drei eats everything in sight, including the magic potion Tian made to protect them; Tian can't help drooling at the sight of gold. Fortunately, it's precisely their predilection for greed and gluttony that keeps the laughs coming strong as the hapless duo encounter the requisite fantasy fare of ogres, monsters and other baddies while tracking down treasure and chasing adventure. Like Tian and Drei, Kwon's drawings morph easily between a typical manga look and expressive caricatures that make fun of the characters and their outsized flaws. The book is willing to do almost anything for a laugh, but Hon and Kwon are just as serious about keeping things surprising, including ending the book with a poem by Pushkin. (Apr.)
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In this graphic novel, novice mage Tian and airhead warrior Drei stumble through sword-and-sorcery adventures alternating from accidental heroics to greed-fueled blunders. Their quest for gold leads them through a dungeon filled with orcs (where they befriend a dragon-girl before accidentally killing her father); on a mission to protect the Tree of Life (which they inadvertently burn down); and into a confrontation with Tian's old mage-school rival. With plenty of irony, the text takes on the vast empire of fantasy role-playing games, running the gambit from the Final Fantasy video game franchise to the old-school standby Dungeons & Dragons. The book will amuse even readers without game knowledge, though background in games playing sharpens the comedy. The manga-style artwork suits the story and adds to the humor with some funny sight gags. Tina Coleman
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